Category Archives: Sink

Six hours and no decision @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13

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The City of Alachua Planning Commissioners seemed inclined to approve the Special Exception Permit for the Tara April detention ponds and trails next to I-75.

But after the applicant’s case was countered by the National Speleological Society (NSS) and others, the Commissioners seemed ready to deny.

However, at midnight the court recorder had to leave, so they had to adjourn until Tuesday, April 20, 2026, at 6 PM, also at Alachua City Hall, 15100 NW 142 Terrace, Alachua, FL 32615.

Get there early. It was standing room only this Tuesday, with some people outside the doors.

[Six hours and no decision, @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13, They meet again about Tara April, and Mill Creek Sink, 6 PM 2026-01-20]
Six hours and no decision, @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13, They meet again about Tara April, and Mill Creek Sink, 6 PM 2026-01-20

You can see the relevant parts of the meeting (minus the other two items on the agenda) in this video by Richie Denmark for NSS:

https://youtu.be/g2yNv9MtRBY?si=dtbvAtyaEnXwmvVw

That video does not include the images projected by the various speakers. But I took stills of many of them, which you can see below.

The video starts with me photographing the Tara April Master Plan. You can see my photographs below. Continue reading →

Mill Creek Sink 2025-01-13

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Update 2026-01-17: Six hours and no decision @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13.

It took about 12 days for dye put into Mill Creek Sink to show up six miles northwest in Hornsby Spring. That spring is on the far side of High Springs. It runs into the Santa Fe River.

[Mill Creek Sink, Alachua, FL 2026-01-13, Cave complex connects to Hornsby Spring, Santa Fe River]
Mill Creek Sink, Alachua, FL 2026-01-13, Cave complex connects to Hornsby Spring, Santa Fe River

Anything that goes into Mill Creek Sink could affect drinking water for the city of High Springs, as well as Hornsby Spring and the Santa Fe River. And probably other things nearby over the Floridan Aquifer.

The dye trace is according to MILL CREEK and LEE SINKS DYE TRACE ALACHUA COUNTY, FLORIDA JULY-DECEMBER, 2005,
Prepared for: Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, 201 SE 2nd Avenue, Suite 201, Gainesville, FL 32601;
Prepared by: Peter L. Butt, Stephen Boyes, P.G. and Thomas L. Morris, Karst Environmental Services, Inc., 5779 NE County Road 340, High Springs, FL 32643, June 7, 2006.

There are pictures below of Mill Creek Sink that I took on January 13, 2026. Continue reading →

Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break @ VCC 2025-12-11

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Update 2026-01-01: Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31.

The Valdosta City Council approved two sole-source vendor items among seven water and wastewater items at its December 11, 2025, Regular Session.

A sole-source vendor is a single point of failure, and sometimes a very expensive one, as we saw with the Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2025-10-19.

In that case Valdosta had to completely replace 25,000 water meters.

Sole-source vendors can also be expensive, due to lack of competition.

[Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break, Still, sole-source vendors are a problem @ VCC 2025-12-11]
Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break, Still, sole-source vendors are a problem @ VCC 2025-12-11

The sole-source vendor items were 6.d) about the Force Main Pump Stations, and 6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, among these seven water and wastewater items:

  • 5.e) about the Knights Academy Road and Goodyear Lift Stations,
  • 5.f) also about the Knights Academy Road Lift Station,
  • 5.g) about cost recovery for those same two Lift Stations,
  • 5.h) about the Barack Obama Boulevard North Widening Project, with an agreement with LEA for a 16-inch water main,
  • 6.b) about emergency repairs at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Station (WWTP),
  • 6.c) about rebuilding pumps at the Gornto and Remer Master Lift Stations on the Force Main, and
  • 6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the WWTP.
Continue reading →

Comment and CWA Request re Suncoast Parkway 2 Seg 3A –Stop the Sand Mine Committee 2025-11-06

Received yesterday, a comment against the huge borrow pit proposed in a horse area, uphill from the Crystal River, in Citrus County, Florida, to build another segment of the unnecessary Suncoast Parkway toll road. That segment 3A would be another stop towards continuing up across the Suwannee River and other sensitive wetlands all the way to the GA-FL line towards Thomasville, Georgia.

Hurricane evacuation is the usual excuse for this toll road, but solar panels and batteries for houses and businesses would cost less and would mean many people would not have to evacuate and would not be without power for weeks as happens now after every hurricane.

You can also send a public comment, to:
PublicMail.CESAJ-CC@usace.army.mil

[Comment and CWA Request, re Suncoast Parkway 2 Seg 3A --Stop the Sand Mine Committee, 2025-11-06]
Comment and CWA Request, re Suncoast Parkway 2 Seg 3A –Stop the Sand Mine Committee, 2025-11-06

From: Stop the Sand Mine In Citrus County

Re: Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A (FPID 442764-2)

Formal Public Comment and Request for Clean Water Act §404(q) Review

November 6, 2025

Dear Regulatory Division:

Please find attached the Formal Public Comment “A permit that Never Existed” Statement for the Record submitted by the Stop the Sand Mine Committee regarding the proposed Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A (FPID 442764-2), and the related Southworth sand mine property purchase now being pursued by FDOT using public tax dollars.

Continue reading →

Pictures: Dead River Sink Hike with a Geologist 2025-11-01

Update 2025-11-06: Pictures: Alapaha River Rise Hike 2025-11-01.

We climbed over, under, and around much Hurricane Helene deadfall on what Dottie Price called a “Class 5 Meander” from the Dead River Sink to the Dry Alapaha River.

Thanks to 30 people who came, to Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price for leading this expedition, and to Dottie Price for the additional pictures. See also the facebook video by Christiaan Ard.

[Dead River Sink Hike, Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price, Meander to the Dry Alapaha River, 2025-11-01]
Dead River Sink Hike, Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price, Meander to the Dry Alapaha River, 2025-11-01

There was a false start at Jennings Bluff Cemetery, where Dennis told the lemmings to go back up the bluff, because of too much deadfall. Continue reading →

Hike with a Geologist to a Spring, the Dead River Sink, and the Dry Alapaha River

Hahira, Georgia, October 30, 2025 — Join us this Saturday, November 1, 2025, on an approximately 3 mile or 4 hour hike on the Dead River and the dry Alapaha River bed, led by Practicing Geologist Dennis James Price of Hamilton County, Florida.

[Hike with a Geologist to a Spring, the Dead River Sink, and the Dry Alapaha River, November 1, 2025]

Continue reading →

Hike with a Geologist to a Spring, the Dead River Sink, and the Dry Alapaha River 2025-11-01

Hahira, Georgia, October 30, 2025 — Join us this Saturday, November 1, 2025, on an approximately 3 mile or 4 hour hike on the Dead River and the dry Alapaha River bed, led by Practicing Geologist Dennis James Price of Hamilton County, Florida.

[Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Jennings Bluff, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price 2025-11-01]

We will meet at 9:30 AM at Jennings Bluff Cemetery. On a short stop there, we will climb down a steep bank to explore a spring. Then we will drive into public lands to the Dead River Sink where we will hike out to the Alapaha River and hike the river bed.

From Jennings, Florida, go south on US 41 approximately 2.25 miles and turn left onto NW 25th Lane, which dead ends at the Jennings Bluff Cemetery on the Alapaha River. GPS: 30.56693, -83.035297

This area has recently been designated a State of Florida Geological Site.

Much of the year, the Alapaha River is dry for the last eighteen miles from Jennings Bluff to the Suwannee River, because its water flows into the Dead River and down into the Dead River Sink. On June 22, 2016, several Florida agencies put fluorescent green dye into the Dead River Sink. The dye came back up four days later in the Alapaha River Rise, and eight days later in Holton Creek Rise, both off of the Suwannee River.

Bring sturdy boots or shoes, clothes for woods with stickers, water, and snacks.
Also Continue reading →

Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Jennings Bluff 2025-11-01

Update 2025-11-06: Pictures: Dead River Sink Hike 2025-11-01.

Update 2025-10-30: Press release, Hike with a Geologist to a Spring, the Dead River Sink, and the Dry Alapaha River 2025-11-01.

Join us on an approximately 3 mile or 4 hour hike on the Dead River and the dry Alapaha River bed.

Initial meetup at Jennings Bluff Cemetery. Short stop there where we will climb down a steep bank to explore a spring. Then a drive into public lands to Dead River Sink where we will hike out to the Alapaha River and hike the river bed, led by Practicing Geologist Dennis James Price.

This area has recently been designated a State of Florida Geological Site.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, November 1, 2025

Put In: Jennings Bluff Cemetery. On US 41 go approximately 2.25 miles south from center of Jennings and turn left onto NW 25th Lane, which dead ends at the cemetery on the Alapaha River.

GPS: 30.56693, -83.035297

[Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Jennings Bluff, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price 2025-11-01]
Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Jennings Bluff, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price 2025-11-01

Continue reading →

Live Oak Sinkhole 2025-08-25

A sinkhole opened in U.S. 90 in the middle of Live Oak, Florida, yesterday. FDOT says it’s fixed since yesterday evening.

But chronic overpumping of groundwater produces such cavities, and increasintly big rains wash them open.

[Live Oak Sinkhole, U.S. 90, 2025-08-25, Between Dowling Ave. and Union Ave.]
Live Oak Sinkhole, U.S. 90, 2025-08-25, Between Dowling Ave. and Union Ave.

Live Oak Police Department yesterday reported with a video of the sinkhole opening: Continue reading →

Ask Alachua City Commission to investigate resignations of planners 2025-06-10

If you care about the Floridan Aquifer, from which we all drink, or underground caves, or surface creeks, or the Santa Fe River, or government transparency, please go to the Alachua City Commission meeting tonight, 6 PM, Monday, June 9, 2025.

That’s at James A. Lewis City Commission Chambers, 15100 NW 142 Terrace, Alachua, FL 32615.

Or call or write them:
https://www.cityofalachua.com/government/city-commission/meet-the-commissioners

[Ask Alachua City Commission to investigate resignations 2025-06-09 of planners and City Manager, Tara Forest & Mill Creek Sink]
Ask Alachua City Commission to investigate resignations 2025-06-09 of planners and City Manager, Tara Forest & Mill Creek Sink

Thanks to Vickie Bashor for this cogent explanation:

3 planners with over 50 years experience at the City of Alachua resigned earlier this year within a 2-week period. One of the planners, Justin Tabor, sent an open letter to the Alachua City Commission alleging Continue reading →